Basketball Recap: Addison Merkel Key Part of a Team Effort in Vikings Win

Taholah typically has all the answers at home, but on Friday Willapa Valley proved too difficult a challenge. They walked away with a 59-52 win over the Taholah Chitwhins. This was a revenge game for the Vikings: when they faced off against the Chitwhins back in January, they had to take a 52-41 loss.

Willapa Valley's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Addison Merkel led the charge by putting up 17 points and eight rebounds. The dominant performance also gave Merkel a new career-high in assists (four). Tylar Keeton was another key player, dropping a double-double on 15 points and 15 boards.

Willapa Valley now has a winning record of 9-8. As for Taholah, their defeat ended a nine-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 13-5.

Willapa Valley didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next game, a 2-1 victory against Lake Quinault on the 4th. Taholah has also already played their next match (against Wishkah Valley), but no score has been uploaded at the time of writing.